diff --git a/pmd/src/test/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/ant/AbstractAntTestHelper.java b/pmd/src/test/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/ant/AbstractAntTestHelper.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..3107007e7d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pmd/src/test/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/ant/AbstractAntTestHelper.java
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+package net.sourceforge.pmd.ant;
+
+import static java.io.File.separator;
+
+import org.apache.tools.ant.BuildFileTest;
+
+/**
+ * Quite an ugly classe, arguably useful for just 2 units test - nevertheless as
+ * there is a workaround that must be shared by both tests (PMD and CPD's) I felt
+ * compelled to move it to a single classes.
+ *
+ * @author Romain Pelisse <belaran@gmail.com>
+ *
+ */
+public abstract class AbstractAntTestHelper extends BuildFileTest {
+
+	protected String pathToTestScript;
+	protected String antTestScriptFilename;
+	public String mvnWorkaround;
+
+	public AbstractAntTestHelper() {
+		mvnWorkaround = "pmd/ant/xml";
+		pathToTestScript = "target/test-classes/net/sourceforge/" + mvnWorkaround;
+
+	}
+
+    @Override
+    public void setUp() {
+    	validatePostConstruct();
+        // initialize Ant
+        configureProject(pathToTestScript + separator + antTestScriptFilename);
+        if (!project.getBaseDir().toString().endsWith(mvnWorkaround)) {
+            // when running from maven, the path needs to be adapted...
+            // FIXME: this is more a workaround than a good solution...
+            project.setBasedir(project.getBaseDir().toString()
+        	    + separator + pathToTestScript);
+        }
+    }
+
+	private void validatePostConstruct() {
+		if ( pathToTestScript == null || "".equals(pathToTestScript) ||
+			 antTestScriptFilename == null || "".equals(antTestScriptFilename) ||
+			 mvnWorkaround == null || "".equals(mvnWorkaround) )
+			throw new IllegalStateException("Unit tests for Ant script badly initialized");
+
+	}
+}
diff --git a/pmd/src/test/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/ant/PMDTaskTest.java b/pmd/src/test/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/ant/PMDTaskTest.java
index e109cabc83..007bd5877a 100644
--- a/pmd/src/test/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/ant/PMDTaskTest.java
+++ b/pmd/src/test/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/ant/PMDTaskTest.java
@@ -3,22 +3,13 @@
  */
 package net.sourceforge.pmd.ant;
 
-import org.apache.tools.ant.BuildFileTest;
 import org.junit.Test;
 
-public class PMDTaskTest extends BuildFileTest {
+public class PMDTaskTest extends AbstractAntTestHelper {
 
-    @Override
-    public void setUp() {
-        // initialize Ant    	
-        configureProject("target/test-classes/net/sourceforge/pmd/ant/xml/pmdtasktest.xml");
-        if (!project.getBaseDir().toString().endsWith("pmd/ant/xml")) {
-            // when running from maven, the path needs to be adapted...
-            // FIXME: this is more a workaround than a good solution...
-            project.setBasedir(project.getBaseDir().toString()
-        	    + "/target/test-classes/net/sourceforge/pmd/ant/xml");
-        }
-    }
+	public PMDTaskTest() {
+		super.antTestScriptFilename = "pmdtasktest.xml";
+	}
 
     @Test
     public void testNoFormattersValidation() {
@@ -96,7 +87,7 @@ public class PMDTaskTest extends BuildFileTest {
     public void testInvalidLanguageVersion() {
         expectBuildExceptionContaining("testInvalidLanguageVersion", "Fail requested.", "The <version> element, if used, must be one of 'java 1.3', 'java 1.4', 'java 1.5', 'java 1.6', 'java 1.7'.");
     }
-    
+
     @Test
     public void testExplicitRuleInRuleSet() {
         executeTarget("testExplicitRuleInRuleSet");